Authentic-Self Coaching with Jess

I am incredibly proud, grateful and humbled to share that I've been shortlisted as a finalist for the Medway Star Awards in the Equality & Inclusion Category ⭐️

To learn that the nomination came from someone who felt seen, supported and safe during one of the most difficult periods of their life was honestly, deeply emotional to read.

What I've learnt along the way, is that leadership is never just about performance, targets or operational delivery. It's about people. It's about creating environments where others feel psychologically safe enough to be human, especially when life feels heavy.

The words shared within the nomination reflected something I care about deeply, taking the time to understand the person behind the role, the behaviour, the absence or the struggle.

Not asking...
"what's wrong with you?"

but instead...
"what's happened for you, and what do you need to feel safe, supported and able to thrive?"

This recognition means so much because it aligns completely with who I am, both within my NHS leadership role and through my business, Authentic Self Coaching.

I truly believe that people are not broken because they've experienced challenge, adversity or trauma. They are human. And with the right support, awareness and psychologically safe spaces, growth is possible.

This is the foundation of Post Traumatic Growth and the ethos behind everything I do, helping people reconnect with themselves, rebuild confidence, and realise that their authentic self is always more than good enough.

To be recognised for leading with compassion, emotional intelligence and humanity in a system often under immense pressure is incredibly special.

Thank you to the person who nominated me, to those who continue to believe in human-centred leadership, and to Medway NHS Foundation Trust for creating space to celebrate the people and values behind the work.

Whatever the outcome, this nomination is a reminder that kindness, inclusion and authentic leadership matter more than ever. 🫶

📢 I’m back.

Did you notice I’d gone?

For the first time in a long time, I completely stepped away.

❌ No work.
❌ No social media.
❌ No calls.
❌ No “just quickly checking in.”

I was away with my husband and three children, and I made a promise.

But it wasn’t just a promise to them. It was a promise to myself.

Not because I had the luxury of switching off, because I knew I needed to.

🌱 One of the biggest lessons from my own Post Traumatic Growth journey has been this:

It’s not enough to know what you need. You have to be willing to honour it.

And that meant listening.

🧠 Listening to my mind.
🧘‍♀️ Listening to my body.
❣️Listening to the quiet signs before they became loud ones.

Because the truth is:

You cannot encourage other women to prioritise themselves while continually abandoning yourself.

So I practised what I preach.

I slowed down.

I read four books, including powerful words from Brené Brown and Donna Ashworth.

I spent time alone on the beach.

I let myself breathe.

And I spent real quality time with the people I love most, the same people who can sometimes feel like strangers in the same home when life gets too full.

And it reminded me of something:

Rest is not something we earn. It is something we need.

Especially when you are the woman everyone else depends on.

Because sometimes growth doesn’t happen in the pushing….. it often happens in the pause.

And that pause?

That is part of the work too.

And it is exactly why the women joining my founding cohort at the beginning of May will not just be learning how to lead others better…

They will be learning how to finally listen to themselves first.

Because transformational leadership always starts within.

If this speaks to something in you,
send me a message or comment READY and I’ll share the details 🫶

📢 I need you!

If you are a women in a leadership position, who cares about those around you…. And yourself

If you are done being resilient, bouncing back but never moving forward, never growing into the next version of your authentic self.

If you’ve ever felt defined by what you do, instead of who you are… then I have something you need.

I am looking for an intentionally small group of women to be part of something transformational.

A pilot of my group coaching program, grounded in my proven PTG.R.O.W.T.H framework.

A New Evolution of Leadership is needed and here’s what it looks like…

Leadership rooted in masculinity alone, control, demand, compliance… is outdated.

Not because masculinity is wrong…

But because leadership without compassion is unsustainable.

That’s not to say the future leadership required is “soft”

It means, the future is human leadership.

A powerful blend of masculine and feminine traits:

💫courage and compassion
💫accountability and empathy
💫decisiveness and emotional intelligence
💫standards and psychological safety

And the evidence is everywhere:

When people feel safe, they speak up.
When they speak up, risk reduces.
When risk reduces, care improves.
When care improves, performance rises.

Leadership rooted in Post Traumatic Growth, positive psychology and holistic wellbeing is not nice to have it’s essential.

This is not ideology.

This is common sense.

And it’s the leadership revolution we all need if we want to survive what’s coming next.

If this sounds like something you want to be apart of and would like more details, comment: PTG and I will message you directly.

Reflections on today’s CivicaNet
Conference to celebrate International Women Day.

🤗The connections were great

💡The conversations were insightful

🫶The speakers were inspiring

Laura Eshelby did a fantastic job moderating the majority of the day, with Molly Ellis wrapping things up with her raw thought provoking words.

The women in the room from far and wide (and right next to me Amanda Russell) all brought their unique experience and perspectives from several different backgrounds, to contribute to one shared vision, breaking Broken Systems.

Putting the spotlight on intentional, compassionate and courageous leadership that advocates not only for those we serve, but for ourselves too…..because we’re worth it.

Thank you CIVICANET , ladies, and special guest for a wonderful day. I look forward to following up with the joint ventures in the future.

If you’re a woman leading change inside a complex organisation, this will resonate.

Let me ask you something…

Have you ever tried to change something at work, knowing it was broken…
only to be met with:

“that’s just how it is”
“we’ve always done it this way”
“it’s too risky”
“now isn’t the right time”

That’s the reality of challenging systems that were built to stay intact.

And that’s why this International Women’s Day panel conversation at Civicanet leadership event, matters.

Because leading change isn’t just about pushing harder.

It’s about knowing how to:
💫 influence
💫 protect psychological safety
💫 balance risk and responsibility
💫 and still keep your team well while the pressure rises

I’ll be sharing my thoughts, lived experience, and what I’ve learned about transformation and Post Traumatic Growth that doesn’t cost you your soul.

Question for you:
What’s one broken system you’ve been expected to tolerate?

Some systems weren’t built to work.
They were built to stay intact.

And that’s exactly what myself, Julie Tague and other inspiring women will be talking about on the panel this International Women’s Day at CivicaNet in the House of Lords.

Because let’s be honest…

Women in leadership aren’t just managing teams. We’re managing outdated structures, broken processes, unsafe cultures, and policies that feel like they were designed to exhaust people into silence.

But here’s the truth:

Challenging systems requires courage.
And sustaining change requires emotional intelligence. This conversation isn’t about “being strong enough.”

It’s about learning how to lead transformation in a way that is:

💫 accountable
💫 human-centred
💫 psychologically safe
💫 and still delivers results

Because changing the system shouldn’t cost you your wellbeing.

And it definitely shouldn’t cost your team theirs either.

Friday the 13th… unlucky?
Not in my world.

Today has been labelled “bad luck” for centuries, but the truth is… it wasn’t always seen that way.

Long before patriarchal narratives turned it into something to fear, Friday the 13th was honoured as a powerful day connected to the Divine Feminine.

A day symbolising:
💫 intuition
💫 creation
💫 feminine wisdom
💫 fertility and rebirth
💫 cycles of life, death, and becoming again

Even the name Friday is believed to link back to Freya, the goddess associated with love, strength and abundance.

And the number 13?
It represents the 13 lunar cycles in a year… a reminder that life isn’t linear.

It’s cyclical.

💔We shed.
💔We break.
🌳We rebuild.
🧠We return stronger.

And honestly… this is exactly what I teach through Post Traumatic Growth.

Because so many women I work with have been conditioned to believe that when they struggle, when they fall apart, when life cracks them open…

…it means they’re failing.

But the feminine way isn’t about perfection.
It’s about transformation.

It’s about honouring the seasons within you.

⛈️ The storm.
⏸️ The pause.
❤️‍🩹 The healing.
🌱 The growth.
🥂 The return.

So maybe today isn’t a day to fear.

Maybe it’s a day to remember:

❌You are not unlucky.
✅You are powerful.
❌And your cracks are not your weakness…
✅… they are your becoming.

Happy Friday the 13th, beautiful humans.
May you honour your intuition and trust your next chapter. 🫶

I’m proud to announce I will be speaking at the International Women’s Day event hosted by and taking part in the panel Leadership in Action.

I will be sharing why Leadership rooted in Post Traumatic Growth, positive psychology and emotional intelligence is not just a ‘nice to have’…. It’s a necessity.

This is a closed, senior-level brunch for women in leadership roles across public service.

The event is about creating space for honest discussion, and our panel will share experience, inflection points and practical judgement rather than polished success stories.

📍 House of Lords, London
🗓 5th March | 08:00

More details: https://hubs.ly/Q03_RML50

Yesterday… I slept in until 13:40. 😳

Yep. 1:40 in the afternoon!

And before you start thinking “Jess, are you ok?!”… let me give you some context.

I’m a 5am riser every weekday. And even at weekends I’m usually up before nine. So this wasn’t normal for me.

Old me would have panicked.

Old me would have launched straight into guilt mode…

“You’ve wasted the day.”
“You’re being lazy.”
“You’ve got things to do.”
“You should be productive.”

You know the script.

But here’s what my Post Traumatic Growth journey has taught me…

Your body doesn’t speak in words.
It speaks in signals.

And yesterday, mine was crystal clear.

It didn’t whisper - It didn’t nudge. It ultimately put its arms around me and said:

“Enough now. Rest.”

And I listened.

No alarm.
No rushing.
No justifying.
No trying to “make up for it” later.

Just me… under a duvet… warm, snuggly, safe… and honestly? It felt like medicine.

Because a big part of PTG isn’t just healing from what happened…

It’s unlearning the belief that rest has to be earned. It’s learning to hear the quiet signs before your body forces you into burnout.

It’s recognising that slowing down isn’t weakness. It’s wisdom.

So what did that lay-in tell me?

💫It told me that my nervous system needed softness.
💫That my mind needed silence.
💫That my soul needed a pause.
💫And that the most productive thing I could do yesterday… was absolutely nothing.

Sometimes growth looks like boundaries.
Sometimes it looks like courage.

And sometimes…

it looks like sleeping until 13:40
and letting that be more than good enough. 🫶

Today’s my birthday 🎉🥰

And as I sit here on the train to London for a birthday brunch at the Ivy, feeling grateful (and slightly older… but definitely wiser 😅), I can’t help but reflect on how much this past year has reminded me of what I truly believe…

💫That authenticity is everything.
💫That growth isn’t always pretty… but it’s always powerful.
💫That compassion, fairness, love and freedom aren’t just values, they’re a way of living and leading.

This last year has stretched me, shaped me, and strengthened me in ways I didn’t expect… and honestly, I wouldn’t change a thing.

Because if there’s one thing I know for sure, it’s this…

We don’t grow despite what we’ve been through…
We grow because of it 🌱

So today I’m celebrating another trip around the sun, another year of lessons, laughter, and becoming more me than ever.

And if you’re reading this and you’ve been feeling a little lost, bruised, or unsure of yourself lately… just know:

You’re not broken. You’re becoming 🫶

Happy birthday to me 🎂🥂🍾🥳